GAR 2015 Main Report

222

Part III - Chapter 11

Within the disaster risk reduction sector itself, through initiatives such as the Making Cities Resilient campaign, the HFA has contributed to a growing awareness of disaster risk in the more than 2,000 cities that have signed up to date. Tools such as The UN-Habitat City Resilience Profiling Programme (CRPP; UN-Habitat, 2014a) or the UNISDR Local HFA Monitor and Ten Essentials now offer municipal governments the means to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their current approaches to managing disaster risk. To date, 550 local government reports,7 predominantly from municipal governments, have been submitted and show a mixed track record of achievements.

Local governments in high-income countries and in larger cities may have the capacity to carry out risk assessments and apply the results in landuse and zoning plans, in building regulations and

in the design and implementation of infrastructure projects. However, in many low and middleincome countries, the institutional capacity to support these approaches is usually insufficient, and in some cases it may be completely lacking. Many cities and small urban centres have lacked the sort of risk information, particularly in informal settlements, to inform planning decisions and investments that could reduce risk and build resilience even if they had the political will to do so (UN-Habitat, 2014a). However, there are exceptions, as seen more recently in Brazil (Box 11.5).

Building codes, zoning and land-use planning have been central measures to address existing urban risk and the accumulation of new urban risk. Over the last two decades, the development and improvement of new and existing building codes and standards in construction and reconstruction have been at the centre of urban risk management efforts (UNISDR, 2011a

UNISDR. 2011a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

; UNEP and PSI, 2014

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and PSI (Principles for Sustainable Insurance). 2014,The PSI Global Resilience Project: Building disaster-resilient communities and economies, Part one of a research series by the UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative. UNEP Finance Initiative and PSI Global Resilience Project (led by Insurance Australia Group). Geneva.. .

). Bringing the private sector to the table early in urban planning processes can have

Box 11.4 Upgrading and eradicating informal settlements in Bangalore and Harare

(Source: Satterthwaite and Mitlin, 2014

Satterthwaite, David and Diana Mitlin. 2014,Reducing Urban Poverty in the Global South, USA and Canada: Routledge Publishing.. .

Up to 20 per cent of Bangalore’s population lives in informal settlements with no access to basic services. Over a five-year period from 2000 to 2005, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) implemented a programme to improve water delivery in the slums. By 2005, more than 5 per cent of slum households in the city had access to water and were fully functioning customers receiving bills and making payments. The programme allows shared connections between 8 and 12 households and specifically offers lower pricing for households located in the slums.

The project not only increased the number of households with access to the water network, it also reduced the residents’ dependency on illegal connections and decreased the BWSSB’s amount of non-revenue water being used.

In Harare and other major cities across Zimbabwe, a different approach was employed to deal with populations in informal settlements. For seven weeks starting in May 2005, a government-led clean-up campaign named Operation Murambatsvina was implemented with far-reaching impacts. Its aim was to eradicate illegal housing and alleged illicit business activities.

A total of 92,460 housing structures were destroyed and 700,000 people—nearly 6 per cent of the country’s population—lost their homes. An estimated 2.4 million more people were indirectly affected by the campaign, and the informal work sector, which accounted for 40 per cent of all employment at the time, was destroyed. As a result, people who had been driven out of their homes were left even more vulnerable.

	222 Part III - Chapter 11 Within the disaster risk reduction sector itself, through initiatives such as the Making Cities Resilient campaign, the HFA has contributed to a growing awareness of disaster risk in the more than 2,000 cities that have signed up to date. Tools such as The UN-Habitat City Resilience Profiling Programme (CRPP; UN-Habitat, 2014a) or the UNISDR Local HFA Monitor and Ten Essentials now offer municipal governments the means to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their current approaches to managing disaster risk. To date, 550 local government reports,7 predominantly from municipal governments, have been submitted and show a mixed track record of achievements. Local governments in high-income countries and in larger cities may have the capacity to carry out risk assessments and apply the results in landuse and zoning plans, in building regulations and in the design and implementation of infrastructure projects. However, in many low and middleincome countries, the institutional capacity to support these approaches is usually insufficient, and in some cases it may be completely lacking. Many cities and small urban centres have lacked the sort of risk information, particularly in informal settlements, to inform planning decisions and investments that could reduce risk and build resilience even if they had the political will to do so (UN-Habitat, 2014a). However, there are exceptions, as seen more recently in Brazil (Box 11.5). Building codes, zoning and land-use planning have been central measures to address existing urban risk and the accumulation of new urban risk. Over the last two decades, the development and improvement of new and existing building codes and standards in construction and reconstruction have been at the centre of urban risk management efforts (UNISDR, 2011a x UNISDR. 2011a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . ; UNEP and PSI, 2014 x UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and PSI (Principles for Sustainable Insurance). 2014,The PSI Global Resilience Project: Building disaster-resilient communities and economies, Part one of a research series by the UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative. UNEP Finance Initiative and PSI Global Resilience Project (led by Insurance Australia Group). Geneva.. . ). Bringing the private sector to the table early in urban planning processes can have Box 11.4 Upgrading and eradicating informal settlements in Bangalore and Harare (Source: Satterthwaite and Mitlin, 2014 x Satterthwaite, David and Diana Mitlin. 2014,Reducing Urban Poverty in the Global South, USA and Canada: Routledge Publishing.. . .) Up to 20 per cent of Bangalore’s population lives in informal settlements with no access to basic services. Over a five-year period from 2000 to 2005, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) implemented a programme to improve water delivery in the slums. By 2005, more than 5 per cent of slum households in the city had access to water and were fully functioning customers receiving bills and making payments. The programme allows shared connections between 8 and 12 households and specifically offers lower pricing for households located in the slums. The project not only increased the number of households with access to the water network, it also reduced the residents’ dependency on illegal connections and decreased the BWSSB’s amount of non-revenue water being used. In Harare and other major cities across Zimbabwe, a different approach was employed to deal with populations in informal settlements. For seven weeks starting in May 2005, a government-led clean-up campaign named Operation Murambatsvina was implemented with far-reaching impacts. Its aim was to eradicate illegal housing and alleged illicit business activities. A total of 92,460 housing structures were destroyed and 700,000 people—nearly 6 per cent of the country’s population—lost their homes. An estimated 2.4 million more people were indirectly affected by the campaign, and the informal work sector, which accounted for 40 per cent of all employment at the time, was destroyed. As a result, people who had been driven out of their homes were left even more vulnerable.	Page 1 Page 10 Page 20 Page 30 Page 40 Page 50 Page 60 Page 70 Page 80 Page 90 Page 100 Page 110 Page 120 Page 130 Page 140 Page 150 Page 160 Page 170 Page 180 Page 190 Page 200 Page 210 Page 212 Page 213 Page 214 Page 215 Page 216 Page 217 Page 218 Page 219 Page 220 Page 221 Page 222 Page 223 ->Page 224 Page 225 Page 226 Page 227 Page 228 Page 229 Page 230 Page 231 Page 232 Page 233 Page 234 Page 235 Page 236 Page 240 Page 250 Page 260 Page 270 Page 280 Page 290 Page 300 Page 310